CleaTech LLC

Right after you buy a laboratory instrument, you must learn all about its maintenance so that you can maintain it at the best condition, reap the most out of it, and also use it through its highest possible life span. Here are the maintenance tips for vacuum glove boxes, which you will have to maintain while abiding by many strict rules and restrictions.

General tips to handle a vacuum gloves box

• Water or air should not enter the box.
• No solvents should be evacuated into the pump.
• The gloves must not be sucked into the box.
• The outer and inner antechamber doors must not be opened together.
• Sharp items must not be used as they can puncture the gloves.
• While locking the antechamber door, the locking device must lock without the exertion of much force. The door must not be made too tight or it will break. The door must not be left loose or the box would leak.
• If you have any doubt about the air or gas pressure in the antechamber, you must pump out before opening the door from inside.
• While handling sharps, solvents and powders, you must use nitrile gloves above the glove box gloves.
• Dispose off all used sharps in the container for sharp disposal.
• You must remove from the box all non-hazardous
• Used lithium must be sent to used lithium container where it’s not deemed hazardous. Once the used lithium box is full you must fill it up with mineral oil and mark it as hazardous and dispose it off.
• For un-used lithium closed containers which ae distinctly labelled must be used.
• Dirtied utensils must be cleaned.
• Solvents like acetonitrile must not be used inside the gloves box. They can react with lithium by destroying the catalyst.
• All assigned bins and samples must be properly labelled. The unlabeled items may get removed from the glove box common area, and may get disposed too.
• You must keep the work area inside the glove box clutter free and clean.

These are some of the general guidelines to be followed by any user of the gloves box in the cleanroom. Maintaining these things helps maintain the vacuum gloves box in its best health and working condition. Finally Maintenance is done in two ways. One way is how you maintain it by being particular with following the system, and knowing the general troubleshooting. This caters to the daily and day to day maintenance. Another is the quarterly or annual maintenance done by an expert. You can book such maintenance and check services so that your lab equipments stays in best condition and get checked for any problem at the earliest. For a gloves box also you must get such checking done periodically. And along with this, you must ensure all laboratory staff using the Laboratory Glove Box adheres to the general guidelines.More tips are to be followed while fitting the gas cylinder to the gloves box, and for vacuum pumps, catalyst bed regeneration etc., which requires expertise in doing these things.

Source: https://cleatech.blogspot.com/2019/05/how-to-maintain-laboratory-vacuum-glove.html

Stainless steel glove boxes are basically the same in working as a normal vacuum glove box. The only difference between the two is that, ina plastic made vacuum glove box, the material is transparent all over so that visibility inside the box is maximum. In case of stainless steel built glove boxes, this factor of all round visibility is compromised for better structural strength and durability of the equipment.

The special built

Stainless steel is a strong non-reactive metal alloy. That is why stainless steel has found application in all sorts of laboratory instruments and equipment. And this is the reason they are also used for making of glove boxes, where the pressure and atmosphere inside the box is maintained with extreme caution, care and accuracy. The presence of a structurally strong metal, that is non-reactive and easy to purge and sanitize,is a big plus point of stainless steel. That is why glove boxes made of stainless steel are of high utility.

Definitely, being made of an opaque metal, the box has not all sides made from transparent wall. Rather most of the sides are visually blocked. But the main front portion, which needs to have the viewing window for clear viewing is open, and gives enough surface to view and work. In fact the strong structural strength of stainless steel makes it aferto conduct experiment sunder very low atmospheric pressure and even in vacuum. Chances of explosions or leaks are minimized when you are using a stainless steel glove box.

The basic working

The basic working of the stainless steel gloves box revolves around giving a controlled environment inside the box for handling of chemicals and things with extreme care for special experiments and work. There is a chamber for working with things inside the box,which has all walls made of stainless steel, and a viewing window made of glass. Two gloves are there in the box, in which hands are to be inserted from the outside, to hold things of interest inside the box. The pressure and humidity inside the box is controlled through controllers. Catalysis bed inside the box prevents oxygen and moisture from releasing or staying inside the box.

The catalyst bed is made from copper. And to retain the potency of the catalyst, certain compounds are not permitted inside the glove box. Certain reactive compounds which can make the catalyst non-reactive are not allowed. Also the catalyst needs a regeneration and change after each 3 to 6 months period. The catalyst is then taken out and made to pass through a process where the oxidized form of copper gets converted to metallic copper, and the catalyst again gets rejuvenated to work as earlier.

Finally

One who would be handling the stainless steel glove box will have to go through professional and formal training to understand the core working and operations of the box. This will enable the person to troubleshoot small issues, and also take care of the Economical Glove Boxes in day to day lab operations in the best way for durability.

Original Source: https://cleatech.blogspot.com/2019/05/how-to-use-stainless-steel-glove-boxes.html